Amazon's Business Environment: Structure, Ethics, and Social Identity

This report provides an analysis of Amazon's business environment, covering its organizational structure as a publicly traded corporation, its purpose and goals related to online retail, and key stakeholders including investors, employees, customers, and suppliers. It explores Amazon's core values and ethical practices, emphasizing stakeholder theory and the importance of safe workplaces, ethical conduct, and environmental responsibility. The report also discusses relevant public policies and legislation, such as healthcare policies, data protection, consumer protection acts, and return/refund policies. Furthermore, it examines social identity forms within Amazon, focusing on gender equality and diversity. The analysis highlights how Amazon manages its operations, adheres to ethical standards, and addresses social issues to maintain a strong brand image and foster business growth. Desklib offers a range of solved assignments and past papers for students.

CW Written Project

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Types of organization and its purpose or goals and other relevant arrangements.......................1
Explaining values and ethical practices within organization.......................................................2
Discussing the relevant public policy and legislation..................................................................4
Social identity forms....................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Business environment is concerned with evaluating the internal & external factors that
impact the company 's processing. In the current era, it is important for the company to pay
attention on assessing the internal & external factors so that accomplishing the reliable
understanding eliminating negative influence in turn success can be derived. The current study
is based on Amazon which is one of the American Multinational technology company that pay
attention on offering e-commerce service. It will focus on providing information about the type
of organization, its purpose, organizational structure, stakeholders, etc. The present study will
focus on values and the ethical practices sued by firm within company. Recent report will
emphasize on providing details of relevant public policy and legislation so that depth
understanding can be attained. The social identifies will be included in the recent report along
with application of theories so that proper information can be achieved.
MAIN BODY
Types of organization and its purpose or goals and other relevant arrangements
Amazon is a publicly traded corporation for profit organization which has its operations
in the international levels. The structure of this organization is considered to change easily and
essentially for the chain of command that deals with the details for reporting the order and
responsibility to the organization. A public sector organization is the company which has a
portion of the economy composed to all the level of the government and is the considered to be
partially controlled by the government.
The purpose of amazon is to serve its consumers with the means of online and physical
stores and also focus on the selection, price and conveniences. The main purpose of this
company is to provide the customers of the whole word to find and discover anything which
they want to buy through the means of online measures (Peprah and et.al., 2022). This company
wants to provide the customers to purchase all kinds of products through online platforms. Goal
of this organization is to develop a strategy on the basis of the every customers needs for
exceeding the superior experiences. It is also essential for the company to develop it as the part
of every single purchase which is made by the organization.
The organizational structure of this company has been classified as the majorly of 4
different features,
Hierarchical corporate structure :
1

This structure has been developed on Amazon for the delivering of the immense size of
business. It utilizes the internet for its retail practices in which it employees more than 1.3
million people worldwide.
Hybrid project groups :
According to the needs of the hybrid project groups the development of new products
and services is considered to be the factor that varies from department for the attraction of the
skills and competencies. This structure helps in the attraction of part-time reporting of both the
head of departments for the duration of the project.
Flexibility of the business :
It is very essential for the creation of the hierarchical organizational structure and also
the hybrid structure for the management of the large scale operations of the Amazon. Hence,
flexibility in the structure of this company is always present (Conaway and et.al., 2018).
Stability in top management :
The stability in has been considered to be one of the key features of the structure of the
organization which is said to be the helpful for this organization towards the generation of
revenue, It is very important for the company to gain competitive advantage and develop the
culture which is needed for the gaining competitive advantage.
The key stakeholders of Amazon can be identified as the following,
 Investors of the amazon which are shareholders that provide the organization with funds.
 Employees are also the key stakeholders as they are responsible for undertaking the
operations.
 Customers of this company are the ones which provide it the business through buying its
products.
 Suppliers are also very important for this company's business model as it generally uses
third party sellers for its operations.
Explaining values and ethical practices within organization
There are different types of the core values which are possessed by Amazon which aids
in having the significant information that how firm works. Core values of the particular
organization which includes passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, long
term thinking, giving higher customer obsessed, learn & be curious, deliver results, bias for
action, earn trust, etc. These are the core values which are basically followed as the principle of
2

working which helps in achieving the ethical course of action in turn greater effectiveness can be
achieved. It focuses on having hiring & developing the best so that higher standards for gaining
the trustworthiness (Hayat, Jianjun and Ali, 2022). Amazon pay attention on having the
significant ability to ensure that all the employees are offering adding value to the work by
following these aspects in turn effective outcomes can be derived.
In order to become successful in the current business environment it is important for the
organization to give emphasis on having ethical practices so that fair results can be achieved.
Customers and other stakeholders are highly aware of their rights and duties so becomes firm to
concentrate on a having effective ethical practices. Stakeholder theory of the business ethics
indicate that firm should focus on having the appropriate constant engagement with interested
parties. This particular theory provides assistance in getting more engaged workforce &
improved return on corporate social responsibilities (What Is Stakeholder Theory? 2022). With
help of this theory the specified organization pay attention on having ethical obligated actions
so that balance of interest of it stakeholders can be achieved.
The one of the significant ethical practice that is focused by Amazon is to promote safe
and healthy workplace free of harassment & damage. In addition to this, there is policy which
articulates that employees to follow lawful, ethical actions which benefits overall working
procedure. It pay attention on eliminating all those actions which are not in the best interest of its
stakeholders (Villegas and et.al., 2019). There is higher level focus is provided on having the
climate pledge so that effective & optimum utilization of resources to fulfill ethical requirements
of the business. Fair product pricing to gain trustworthiness among customers is majorly focused
by Amazon. In addition to this, waste reduction & recycling, water & energy consumption,
carbon emissions, etc are managed by the firm.
For its employees, various form of the actions are executed by specified enterprise to get
full productiveness in turn overcoming competition can be done. (Astrachan and et.al., 2020)
CSR activities such as gender equality & minorities, health & safety working condition,
educating & empowering employees, supporting local communities, etc are exerted. This is
helpful for the personal growth & development of employees which can aid firm to do provide
benefits for longer duration. Amazon in the recent time concentrate on having proper conducting
of marketing & promotional actions that allows receiving favorable consumer perception. It
provides assistance in offering opportunities of development to the society through enabling
3

them to obtain education, heath care, environmental conservation, etc. so that favorable impact
on its stakeholders can be derived.
On the basis of this, it can be interpreted that firm focuses on having the effective
execution of the ethical actions in turn accomplishing the organizational objectives of higher
sustainability can be attained. This is allowing the enterprise to impact its stakeholders in
positive manner so that good profitability, brand image, profitability, sustainability, credibility,
etc. benefits are derived. This is permitting receiving significant results which assisting in
overcoming competition in market.
Discussing the relevant public policy and legislation
The major public policy that is followed within the organization is set of actions that are
taken by the firm so that certain issues might be resolved within the society. Furthermore, the
current healthcare public policy is been followed within the Amazon that assures that all the
employees that are part of the organization are provided heath and safety measures so that they
feel secured and safe at the place. Also, under this policy certain medical benefits and insurance
coverage is provided to the workers in case of any unforeseen events in the future. Furthermore,
the Amazon is also following the data protection policy where strict actions are taken if any
relevant data of the company is misused or illegally used by any of third party outside the
business (Wasserbaur, Sakao and Milios, 2022). Also, through this policy all information
relating to the customers bank details, purchase history, address etc. are kept safely so that it
might be used for future references of any kind of queries. Moreover, it can be said that
company is very particular in assuring that all the employees are assigned proper work and roles
according to skills and follows the principle of the division of labour where the task are
provided according to the relevant qualifications among the employee.
Also, in the context of legislations it can be said that these are the laws that need to be
followed as per the government of the country so that the work is carried out smoothly without
any kind of future problems. Furthermore, consumer protection act 2019 is being followed
within the workplace where the company is focused mainly on providing services and products
to the consumers that are good in quality and value for money (Elmagrhi and et.al., 2019). Also,
through this policy consumers might file any case against the company if they find that certain
activities or set of actions are not according to the law. Moreover, another legislation that
Amazon follows is return and refunds policy relating to the e-commerce business where it has
4

clearly specified the way the online business works and what is the system that is followed when
any customer wants to return the goods that are either not liked by them or are of no use. Also, it
specifies the payment methods and the modes of payment that are accepted by the organization
for any kind of sales. Thus, through following strict policy and legislations amazon assure that
all the work is carried out legally and ensures consumers that they are focused on building the
strong relationships and are expert in providing the excellent services. Furthermore, such
policies build the brand image of the company in the target market and attract more number of
customers towards the business for the future growth. Also, apart from the stated above policies
there are various others that are being followed by the Amazon that are closely reviewed and
monitored from time to time so that there are no problems in the working of business and
government interventions are also avoided to larger extent.
Social identity forms
The different forms of social identity are which are going to be discussed for this
organization are,
Gender :
Amazon as an organization has been successful not just due to its general operations but
also because of the ways in which it manages the social identity. As far as the gender is
concerned Amazon has some of the best measures to maintain gender equality in its organization
(Buribayev and Khamzina, 2019). This company has provided the same facilities to both the
gender and has avoided any sorts. The level of diversity in this organization helps all the genders
feel empowered while working with a team. It is very important for this company to provide
appreciation on equal terms for their employees. It is also considered to be the factor that
explains that this organization is able to maintain the gender gap (García Johnson and Otto,
2019). There are different kinds of the benefits which are derived by Amazon through having the
gender equality into the workplace culture. The one of the significant advantage is having the
ability to build safe & healthy working culture by boosting the performance of employees. This
provides the assistance in receiving the fair working approach which eliminating irrelevant legal
complications such as harassment, etc. It allows the firm to get equality by offering significant
growth opportunities to both women & men so that conflict and bias related situation avoiding
can become possible. This assist in having effective employee relationship building that tend to
decline turnover rate and help in managing & controlling workforce in optimize manner.
5

Age :
In Amazon age discrimination is also avoided as they do not believe in difference in age
effecting employee performance. For the mitigation of the discrimination and diversity training
the employees are provided with training which are specific to the organizations process that
allows the business to gain competitive growth. It benefits the business to help with the lectures
to helps in consisting of the different generations that allow the organization to bring respect for
the strong inclusive workplace (How to Avoid Age Discrimination in the Workplace, 2021). This
organization also has some strict rules and policies which it has developed for enforcing them on
to the public for the management of their consistency in equality toward age. Amazon always
rewards their employees on the basis of their performance not on the tenure which is considered
to be the factor that affects the recommendation towards receiving the benefits on the basis of
the value the offer towards the training or continuation of the education opportunities. The
implementation of age related diversity takes place on Amazon in the process of hiring in which
it has no limitation regarding the experiences or age of the candidate which helps the business to
make sure that it not discriminate in age.
The benefits of having a multi-generational workplace is that it drives business in being
able to come up with some innovative ideas and solutions. It is also considered to be helpful for
the business to have a much rather healthy. It is also the promotion of these organizations
policies which help the business to develop its organization in the perspectives of business
growth.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that there are various internal and external
factors that creates business environment and has influence on its overall growth &
development. The current report has paid attention on having the information that it is one of the
successful firm that uses hierarchical & hybrid structure which possess different stakeholders
that are contributes in attaining specified purpose of organization. There are diffident values
which are followed that includes customer obsessed, deliver results, etc. In addition to this,
different ethical actions such as creating healthy & safe working culture, equality, etc are
implemented by firm for accomplishing its responsibility. Present report has focused on
involving public policies regarding healthcare, data protection, etc. It has emphasized on gender
and age tow social identify.
6

7

8

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Astrachan, J.H. And et.al., 2020. Values, spirituality and religion: Family business and the roots
of sustainable ethical behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 163(4), pp.637-645.
Buribayev, Y.A. and Khamzina, Z.A., 2019. Gender equality in employment: The experience of
Kazakhstan. International Journal of Discrimination and the Law. 19(2). pp.110-124.
Conaway, R.N., and et.al., 2018. Amazon Whole Foods: When E-Commerce Met Brick-and-
Mortar and Saved the Brand of Conscientious Capitalism. Journal of Marketing
Development & Competitiveness. 12(3).
Elmagrhi, M. H. and et.al., 2019. A study of environmental policies and regulations, governance
structures, and environmental performance: The role of female directors. Business
Strategy and the Environment. 28(1). pp.206-220.
García Johnson, C.P. and Otto, K., 2019. Better together: A model for women and LGBTQ
equality in the workplace. Frontiers in Psychology. 10. p.272.
Hayat, K., Jianjun, Z. and Ali, S., 2022. Reinforcing purchase behaviors through CSR and
ethical practices. Marketing Intelligence & Planning.
Peprah, A. A., and et.al., 2022. How business models evolve in weak institutional environments:
The case of Jumia, the Amazon. com of Africa. Organization Science. 33(1). pp.431-
463.
Villegas, S. and et.al., 2019. Human resources as ethical gatekeepers: Hiring ethics and
employee selection. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 16(2), pp.80-88.
Wasserbaur, R., Sakao, T. and Milios, L., 2022. Interactions of governmental policies and
business models for a circular economy: A systematic literature review. Journal of
Cleaner Production. 337. p.130329.
Online
How to Avoid Age Discrimination in the Workplace, 2021[Online]. Available through:
<https://everfi.com/blog/workplace-training/how-to-avoid-age-discrimination-in-the-
workplace/>
What Is Stakeholder Theory? 2022. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.smartsheet.com/what-stakeholder-theory-and-how-does-it-impact-
organization>s
9